Mishal Khan

Doctoral Candidate
(2013)

My research examines histories of slavery, abolition, and unfree labor in the British empire, focusing on the case of British India. I situate this case within a broader history of international legal regimes around labor from the late nineteenth, and into the early twentieth century. My dissertation, focusing on case studies of three laboring figures in British India, has allowed me to explore crucial formations around race and categories of labor, the law's evolving approach to labor contracts, and to the "proper" role of customary labor relations in a post-abolition imperial context. My research situates debates around these issues in India within broader global debates around labor and slavery by examining discussions at the League of Nations and the International Labor Organization. In my work I aim to leverage the insights gained from examining this historical moment to provide a deeper understanding of contemporary critical issues around modern slavery, forced and bonded labor.